The polyketide components of waxes and the <i>Cer-cqu</i> gene cluster encoding a novel polyketide synthase, the β-diketone synthase, DKS

The primary function of the outermost, lipophilic layer of plant aerial surfaces, called the cuticle, is preventing non-stomatal water loss. Its exterior surface is often decorated with wax crystals, imparting a blue–grey color. Identification of the barley Cer-c, -q and -u genes forming the 101 kb Cer-cqu gene cluster encoding a novel polyketide synthase—the β-diketone synthase (DKS), a lipase/carboxyl transferase, and a P450 hydroxylase, respectively, establishes a new, major pathway for the synthesis of plant waxes. The major product is a β-diketone (14,16-hentriacontane) aliphatic that forms long, thin crystalline tubes. A pathway branch leads to the formation of esterified alkan-2-ols

First-principles investigation of spin polarized conductance in atomic carbon wire

We analyze spin-dependent energetics and conductance for one dimensional (1D) atomic carbon wires consisting of terminal magnetic (Co) and interior nonmagnetic (C) atoms sandwiched between gold electrodes, obtained employing first-principles gradient corrected density functional theory and Landauer's formalism for conductance. Wires containing an even number of interior carbon atoms are found to be acetylenic with sigma-pi bonding patterns, while cumulene structures are seen in wires containing odd number of interior carbon atoms, as a result of strong pi-conjugation. Ground states of carbon wires containing up to 13 C atoms are found to have anti-parallel spin configurations of the two terminal Co atoms, while the 14 C wire has a parallel Co spin configuration in the ground state. The stability of the anti-ferromagnetic state in the wires is ascribed to a super-exchange effect. For the cumulenic wires this effect is constant for all wire lengths. For the acetylenic wires, the super-exchange effect diminishes as the wire length increases, going to zero for the atomic wire containing 14 carbon atoms. Conductance calculations at the zero bias limit show spin-valve behavior, with the parallel Co spin configuration state giving higher conductance than the corresponding anti-parallel state, and a non-monotonic variation of conductance with the length of the wires for both spin configurations.Comment: revtex, 6 pages, 5 figure

An Ethylene-Protected Achilles' Heel of Etiolated Seedlings for Arthropod Deterrence

A small family of Kunitz protease inhibitors exists in Arabidopsis thaliana, a member of which (encoded by At1g72290) accomplishes highly specific roles during plant development. Arabidopsis Kunitz-protease inhibitor 1 (Kunitz-PI;1), as we dubbed this protein here, is operative as cysteine PI. Activity measurements revealed that despite the presence of the conserved Kunitz-motif the bacterially expressed Kunitz-PI;1 was unable to inhibit serine proteases such as trypsin and chymotrypsin, but very efficiently inhibited the cysteine protease RESPONSIVE TO DESICCATION 21. Western blotting and cytolocalization studies using mono-specific antibodies recalled Kunitz-PI;1 protein expression in flowers, young siliques and etiolated seedlings. In dark-grown seedlings, maximum Kunitz-PI;1 promoter activity was detected in the apical hook region and apical parts of the hypocotyls. Immunolocalization confirmed Kunitz-PI;1 expression in these organs and tissues. No transmitting tract (NTT) and HECATE 1 (HEC1), two transcription factors previously implicated in the formation of the female reproductive tract in flowers of Arabidopsis, were identified to regulate Kunitz-PI;1 expression in the dark and during greening, with NTT acting negatively and HEC1 acting positively. Laboratory feeding experiments with isopod crustaceans such as Porcellio scaber (woodlouse) and Armadillidium vulgare (pillbug) pinpointed the apical hook as ethylene-protected Achilles? heel of etiolated seedlings. Because exogenous application of the ethylene precursor 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) and mechanical stress (wounding) strongly up-regulated HEC1-dependent Kunitz-PI;1 gene expression, our results identify a new circuit controlling herbivore deterrence of etiolated plants in which Kunitz-PI;1 is involved

Implication of the oep16-1 mutation in a flu-independent, singlet oxygen-regulated cell death pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana

Singlet oxygen is a prominent form of reactive oxygen species in higher plants. It is easily formed from molecular oxygen by triplet–triplet interchange with excited porphyrin species. Evidence has been obtained from studies on the flu mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana of a genetically determined cell death pathway that involves differential changes at the transcriptome level. Here we report on a different cell death pathway that can be deduced from the analysis of oep16 mutants of A. thaliana. Pure lines of four independent OEP16-deficient mutants with different cell death properties were isolated. Two of the mutants overproduced free protochlorophyllide (Pchlide) in the dark because of defects in import of NADPH:Pchlide oxidoreductase A (pPORA) and died after illumination. The other two mutants avoided excess Pchlide accumulation. Using pulse labeling and polysome profiling studies we show that translation is a major site of cell death regulation in flu and oep16 plants. flu plants respond to photooxidative stress triggered by singlet oxygen by reprogramming their translation toward synthesis of key enzymes involved in jasmonic acid synthesis and stress proteins. In contrast, those oep16 mutants that were prone to photooxidative damage were unable to respond in this way. Together, our results show that translation is differentially affected in the flu and oep16 mutants in response to singlet oxygen

Induction of Mutants with Ectopic Expression of Condensed Tannins

Leaves of 47,000 Lotus japonicus plants were screened using a butanol:HCl histochemical test to select “gain of function” mutants. These plants were progeny from L. japonicus lines which were transformed with T-DNA constructs containing either the maize Ds or Ac transposon (Thykjaer et al., 1995). Among 21 putative leaf tannin mutants, five (tan1-5) were characterized for synthesis of condensed tannins, leucocyanidin reductase activity and the presence of Ac and the selectable marker gene, nptII . A range of leaf tannin content among other Lotus species was also characterized

Programmed chloroplast destruction during leaf senescence involves 13-lipoxygenase (13-LOX)

Mammals including humans use highly specific pathways for tissue differentiation. One such pathway is operative in reticulocytes and involves the programmed destruction of the cell?s organellar complement by 15-lipoxygenase (15-LOX), which oxygenates polyunsaturated membrane fatty acids and provokes organelle leakage. As we report here, plants make use of a similar LOX pathway to degrade their chloroplasts during leaf senescence. The enzyme involved is a 13-LOX with unique positional specificity and molecular terms. Because 15-LOX and 13-LOX pathway products likewise operate in biological defense, a mechanism of cross-kingdom conservation of pathway regulation and function was uncovered for multicellular eukaryotes